TRUTH BE TOLD

Sunday, December 2, 2012

FROM sci-fi to reality: The computer-blitzing drone that can cripple a nation's electronics at the touch of a button

FROM sci-fi to reality: The computer-blitzing drone that can cripple a nation's electronics at the touch of a button

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing have created a weapon that can knock out computers

The missile is thought to be able to penetrate bunkers and caves

Experts warn, in the wrong hands, could bring Western cities to their knees

Down the years and across the
universe, the heroes of science-fiction classics from Dan Dare to Star
Wars and The Matrix have fought intergalactic battles with weapons that
wipe out enemy electronics at the touch of a button.Now
scientists have turned fantasy into reality by developing a missile
that targets buildings with microwaves that disable computers but don’t
harm people.Aircraft
manufacturer Boeing successfully tested the weapon on a one-hour flight
during which it knocked out the computers of an entire military
compound in the Utah desert.

Pre-programmed filghtpath: Aircraft manufacturer
Boeing has successfully tested a missile which knocked out an entire
military compound in the Utah desert

It is thought the missile
could penetrate the bunkers and caves believed to be hiding Iran’s
suspected nuclear facilities. But experts have warned that, in the wrong
hands, the technology could be used to bring Western cities such as
London to their knees.During
Boeing’s experiment, the missile flew low over the Utah Test and
Training Range, discharging electromagnetic pulses on to seven targets,
permanently shutting down their electronics.

Boeing said that the test was so successful even the camera recording it was disabled.Codenamed
the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project
(CHAMP), it is the first time a missile with electromagnetic pulse
capability has been tested.For security reasons, Boeing declined to
release film of the test, but instead issued an artist’s impression of
it on video. In the clip, a stealth aircraft deploys a missile that
emits radio waves from its undercarriage which knock out the computer
systems inside the buildings below.

Stealth mission: The missile is launched from a
stealth bomber and is thought to be able to penetrate the bunkers and
caves believe to be hiding Iran's suspected nuclear facilities

The company did release real film
showing a row of computers that can be seen shutting down when the
electromagnetic pulse is switched on. Although
the project is shrouded in secrecy, experts believe the missile is
equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon. This uses a
super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated beam of energy
which causes voltage surges in electronic equipment, rendering them
useless before surge protectors have the chance to react.Keith
Coleman, CHAMP programme manager for Boeing’s prototype arm Phantom
Works, said the technology marked ‘a new era in modern warfare’.

He
added: ‘In the near future, this technology may be used to render an
enemy’s electronic and data systems useless even before the first
troops or aircraft arrive. ‘We
hit every target we wanted and made science fiction into science fact.
When the computers went out, it actually took out the cameras as well.
It was fantastic.’The project has cost £24 million and
has been developed on behalf of the US Air Force Research Laboratory
following a request from the Pentagon four years ago.Lead
test engineer Peter Finlay said: ‘We’re not quite at the place where
the Star Trek and Star Wars movies are but this is definitely an
advancement in technology able to give us an opportunity to do things
we could not do before.’ James Dodd, vice-president of Advanced Boeing
Military Aircraft, said there was a real need for a weapon that could
knock out a target but not cause harm to people and structures.He said: ‘We know this has capabilities and impact. We’re trying to see if we can get it implemented sooner rather than later.’However,
experts fear that the project could create an arms race, with
countries scrambling to build their own electromagnetic pulse weapons.

Wiped out: Boeing's film shows computers before
(left) and after (right) the attack by the drone but experts have warned
that, in the wrong hands, the technology could be used to bring Western
cities such as London to their knees

Professor
Trevor Taylor, Professorial Fellow at the Royal United Services
Institute, said the Western world would be much more vulnerable to such
an attack because of our increased reliance on electronics. He added:
‘This is a challenging area in political and military terms. Ideally
there would have been an arms-control agreement to cover this field,
because once technology is actually developed, control becomes harder.

‘The
historical record shows that important technologies developed in one
country are developed elsewhere within a relatively short period – look
what happened with regard to the USSR and nuclear weapons. ‘Should
the US be known to have developed such a technology to the production
stage, it would drive others to try to act similarly.‘Western countries are more dependent on electronics-based IT than others and would be vulnerable to extensive disruption.’